What now Family reunions!
by Firebreathingmarauder
Summary: It has been a year since the battle of Hogwarts when harry potter gets a surprising letter in the post. what is in store for him and ginny as they embark onto phase 2 of their lives : adulthood.
1. Chapter 1

DONG. DONG. DONG. DONG. DONG. DONG.

The enchanted clock adorned with the faces of his five best friends struck six just as the kettle began to whistle. Rubbing his eyes sleepily and removing a particularly wild lock of hair from his line of sight, Harry made his way across the kitchen at Godrics Hollow and set about making a cup of tea. It had been just over a year since the battle of Hogwarts, since the downfall of Voldemort, but the nightmares were still as vivid. Would they ever go? Would he ever be able to get good night's sleep without the faces of Fred, Lupin, Tonks and all the others looming out of the darkness at him?

Shaking his head, Harry pushed those thoughts away and sat down at the large oak table, clutching his steaming mug in his hands. He had Teddy to think of now. And Ginny. It had been almost 8 months since the wedding and the memories of that day still brought a smile to Harry's lips whenever they drifted into his consciousness.

It had been perfect: the sun was bright, flowers were just in bloom, his friends had been there, his teachers … and they had been safe. It was over. For both Harry and Ginny, it had been a way to move on, a fresh start.

Shortly after they had moved into his parents old house – it had been a wedding gift from Ron and Hermione who had married shortly after. They had spent weeks secretly doing it up, painting the walls and fitting out the kitchen. Upon entering it, Harry had felt himself weling up. A place of his own. With someone he loved. After all he had been through….

TAP TAP TAP.

Harry was snapped suddenly out of his reverie by a sharp knocking sound on the kitchen window. A large tawny owl that he didn't recognise was hopping impatiently about on the window sill, a large envelope clutched in its beak. It eyes Harry beadily as he stood up and made his way over to the window and carefully opened it. No sooner had he done so, the owl swept into the kitchen, flew round once, dropping the letter on the table as it did so and darted gracefully out again with a loud screech. Harry cringed, for once glad that Teddy had been staying with Andromeda that night.

"Well good morning to you too" he grumbled, but he couldn't help feeling intrigued as he picked up the letter and examined it. The parchment was… strange….. Almost _Muggle_. But who would be writing to him using muggle paper? Curiosity building, Harry tore open the letter and began to read…

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I hope that you are ok – I heard from mum – I mean Aunt Petunia- that you beat Him. You know, that wizard that you told us about. And I guess I just wanted to check how you are. Gosh that sounds weird! I can't believe how I treated you all those years… if I could take it back I would, I swear. I don't know why I did it. Anyway, I thought maybe I could make it up to you, that we could start again-only if you want to of course. I would have written sooner but I didn't know how to reach you for ages and when I did, I just didn't know what to say. How can I make up for 17 years of torment in a single letter? I know now that I cant so maybe we can meet up sometime? I don't know what you are up to but I thought you should know dad died a couple of months back. It was a stroke – no supprise really- but me and mum are doing fine. I am engaged to a really sweet girl called Henrietta if you wanted to know and I would really like you to meet her. I don't know what wizards do for work but I am free next Thursday at 2 o clock if you want to meet for coffee? We could go to that little bakery opposite Grunnings (I work there now) and get a bun? Anyway, I really hope you will reply but I don't blame you if you don't. I don't think I would be able to forgive me if I was you…_

 _Anyway, I hope you are well,_

 _Your cousin, Dudley Dursely_

 _PS/ if you could reply by muggle post that would be great. I had to borrow Mrs Figgs owl – did you know she is a shib? Stig? I can't remember… but it would probably be easiest..! same address as always!_

Harry put the letter down. Then immediately picked it up again and reread it. It took a while to sink in. Dudley? Writing to him? And _Apologising_? Harry thought he would have been less supprised if Voldemort had just walked in through the back door, sat down and started chatting about knitting patterns. Dudley! Harry closed his eyes. All those years…..

The arrival of his wife in the kitchen snapped harry out of his slumber and he looked up bleary eyed just in time to see Ginny pushing a few coins into the prophet's owl's pouch. Squinting at his watch harry started – it was nearly 8am! He must have nodded off…. Then he remembered the letter. Picking it up off his lap where it must have fallen when he nodded off harry read it for a fourth time. No he wasn't dreaming. Dudley, his bullying, spiteful cousin had written to him and wanted to meet up.

"What's that love?"

Harry glanced up as Ginny set two mugs of coffee down on the table, the Prophet floating down to land beside them.

"Er… its just… well, you know my cousin?"

Ginny frowned. "The one that beat you and berated you for the whole of your childhood? I'm not likely to forget why you spent most of your holidays at our house when you were at school."

"Er.. I guess."

Ginny's expression softened as she saw a look of concern cross her husband's face. He always had been a worrier and he needed her weasley ruthlessness to balance that.

"What's up?" she tried again, this time softer.

Mutely harry passed the letter over to Ginny and watched her face carefully as she read it.

"I don't know if I should go." He muttered. He may have defeated Voldemort, fought a basilisk and ridden a dragon in his life but the idea of reuniting with Dudley intimidated him more than he cared to admit. It was just that he had seemed so …. _Nice_ in the letter. It unnerved harry.

Ginny slowly sat down and looked him in the eyes.

"It's your choice. But he _is_ family, no matter how he treated you. Just look at Percy! Miracles do happen, y'know."

Harry nodded and whilst he didn't smile, Ginny noticed his forehead uncrease slightly. Good, she thought. With the amount he had had to worry about over the last few years, he would look 40 before he reached his 21st birthday.

"That's what I thought. I just… wanted to check. I have to check in at the auror office on Thursday morning and we have teddy in the afternoon but I'm sure Andromeda won't mind having him a few hours longer if you have training…."

Ginny just smiled.

"I love you harry"

Harry looked up into her eyes – the exact same shade as her mother's- and just smiled back as he felt a knot in his stomach that had been there since 6 o clock that morning melt into a warm, contented glow.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry scanned the busy street anxiously. He could have apparated there in an instant but instead he had opted to take three trains, two busses and a taxi to get to the bakery where he was supposed to be meeting his cousin. He had needed time to think. To compose himself. As it turned out, the dress of the long journey had served quite the opposite purpose so now, as he hurried nevously across the street, Harry felt physically sick.

A bell rang softly as Harry stepped into the bakery, almost making home jump, but a delightful mix of aromas - fresh bread, currants, icing and cinnamon- washed over him, calming him immediately. It was the smell of the Hogwarts kitchens, the smell of the burrow, and the homely aroma of Hagrid's hut all rolled into on. To Harry, it was the smell of home. Scanning the bustling shop, at first he couldn't see Dudley. Frowning, he looked at his watch - he was ten minutes late anyway! Dudley should have been there!

Walking over to the counter, he ordered himself a coffee off the smiling barista and a slice of treacle tart for old times sake before turning to find a table. It was just as he was scanning for an empty seat in that he saw a lead young man waving nervously at him from behind a pair of smart square glasses. Harry did a double take and almost dropped his tray. Dudley? As if in a trance, he wove his way past a bawling toddler and two old ladies to the table in the corner where his cousin sat.

"H-hi?" Dudley smiled self consciously at Harry.

Dudley? Self conscious?

Realising that he was staring, Harry quickly sat down opposite Dudley and smiled back.

"Dudley? How are you? I ... Well - you've changed a bit - I didn't recognise you!"

Dudley grinned sheepishly back. To say that he was skinny now would have been untruthful but whilst his broad frame had once been covered in layers of piggy flab, Harry could now make out the faint outlines of muscles underneath his smart pinstriped shirt.

"I guess I have lost some weight.." He admitted.

"Some?!" Harry was astounded. Since when had Dudley been modest? "I think, big D, this is the healthiest I have ever seen you looking, and considering I lived with you for nearly 17 years, that's saying something."

Dudley blushed. "It was after dad started getting ill - I realised I had to change or I was going to end up , well, like him. So I started going to some sessions and that's where I met henrietta. And I guess you'd say the rest is history."

Harry regarded his cousin who was looking at him anxiously, as if seeking approval. A smile tugged at the edge of his mouth as he took a large gulp of coffee. Maybe his cousin had changed - he certainly seemed to have turned over a new leaf. So maybe, just maybe, they could get along. Who knew? Anyway, thought Harry to himself, it was worth a try, wasn't it?


	3. Chapter 3

Right so I know the last chapter was pretty pathetic so I have written a longer one for you guys. Thanks also for the reviews they are really great!

Enjoy!

The sun was bright and golden and the air was fresh. A light breeze wafted among the large floral bouquets that lined the lawn of the Manor House and all was calm except for a bony lady with an extraordinarily long neck busing about frantically.

"The cake! Where's the cake! And be careful not to knock those flowers over!" She screeched at the men who were setting up the marquee where the wedding was being held and the poor team of caterers that were busily preparing platters of crudités to serve to the soon to be arriving guests.

"I want everything to be perfect for my dudley's special day!"

At that moment, Petunia Dursley spotted a mass of messy black hair appear from behind a perfectly manicured hedge accompanied by a blazing head of Crimson hair and a small baby adorned with a magenta mop of unruly locks. She sniffed disapprovingly at the baby before she could catch herself- the remembered the circumstances that Teddy Remus lupin now found himself in and immediately felt guilty.

"Pott-er Harry!" She called across the lawn and began to make her way over to the trio.

"I trust you have prepared a speech and have everything sorted?"

"Yes aunt Petunia"

She sighed. Weddings! Why did they have to be so stressful?

"Sorry Harry. I'm just desperate to make sure this is the best day of dudley's life - I know my wedding was. And I just have this nasty feeling that something is going to go wrong ..."

She trailed off, looking up at her nephew who she had treated badly for so many years and wondered whether things could have been different between the two of them. Maybe if Vernon hadn't convinced her that magic was such an abomination...

Petunia felt her throat go tight and began to turn away. Suddenly she said something very unexpected and something that Harry would never forget as long as he lived:

"You have Lily's eyes you know. I remember her helping me get ready before my wedding. Just the two of us. You are more like her than you know. "

And with that petunia turned on her heel and marched back to continue screeching commands at the frantic musicians and caterers.

If it hadn't been for the look of confusion on Ginnys face, Harry would have thought he had just dreamed up that would conversation.

Half an hour later the marquee that had been only a pile of canvas and poles previously, was teeming with guests who were fanning themselves vigorously to try and dispel some of the summer heat from the tent. Harry was glancing over his shoulder nervously to where ginny, teddy and 'grandma andy' were sitting on the front row, giving him reassuring smiles. Next to him was Dudley who seemed even more apprehensive, his thick blonde hair plastered to his bright red face with sweat. Harry chuckled. He may have lost a lot of weight but his cousin still had an uncanny resemblance of his father. Catching Harry's gaze, Dudley grinned nervously at him, a smile that Harry returned.

In the few months since Dudley had asked Harry to be his best man, the two had grown much closer. Not as close as Harry was to Ron, mind you, but close enough that Harry found the presence of his cousin strangely comforting as they stood at the front of the tent waiting for the ceremony to start.

And start it did. After the service there was dancing, laughter and lots of food that continued to flow untill well Into the night. It seemed that Dudley had completely forsaken his old crowd, with the exception of piers polkis, and Harry had to admit that his news friends were rather nice. There were a few occasional awkward moments when a few old family friends who had known Harry as the deranged criminal nephew asked ginny whether she had met Harry "inside" or questioned their suitability to look after "that poor child", but on occasions like this, Dudley seemed to timely interrupt the conversations and save Harry from thinking up a fantastical yarn to spin.

By the time Harry and ginny came to leave (Andromeda had taken teddy home earlier) he felt as if he had finally been accepted into the family that had raised him. It was a nice feeling, he concluded. Of course, they would never equal the weasleys, Sirius, Remus and all the others, but it felt nice to eventually be recognised by the only blood relatives he had left.

Smiling, Harry linked arms with ginny and the two ambled slowly away from the festivities, enjoying the quiet of the night until they found a secluded corner of the grounds from which to apparate home.

Ok so I hoped you enjoyed it. I hope that the story will pick up a bit now with a bit more humour and family mishaps now the gap between Harry and Dudley has been properly bridged. Feedback would be really appreciated and if you have any suggestions of ideas for family get togethers etc I would be more than happy to try and include them. I hope I will be able to post the next chapter soon as it is the holidays at the moment! Thanks for sticking with me though :)


	4. Chapter 4

I'm back again! It's the holidays so I am going to try and update as much as I can. I hope you liked the last chapter but I hope things will pick up from now on as I've done all the explaining of how Harry and Dudley reconcile etc. :)

So this chapter takes place about three years on: teddy is four and is starting to do A little bit of uncontrolled magic but not much. Dudley has had a little girl (not magic) who is about a year old and ginny is pregnant with James Sirius. Basically Harry and ginny have taken teddy to see a Holyhead harpies match (ginny can't play as she is heavily pregnant with James) and they have decided to stay overnight with Dudley and his wife and daughter.

Hope you enjoy!!

"Darling would you get the door? I think that's them! I just need to put the chicken in the oven and then I can finish off making their beds..."

"Calm down henrietta! Everything's fine. They are family after all. It's not as if they will judge us!"

"I know Duds but the potters, well they're always so interesting with their magic and their fame. I just want to show them what we can do too."

"Honestly love, Harry is the last person who to judge us. Now calm down. I'm going to get the door. Stop fussing! You look beautiful!"

Dudley Dursley straightened his shirt and made his way down the hallway to where his cousin was waiting on the front doorstep. With a deep breath, he swung open the door with an apprehensive smile plastered to his face. Despite what he said to his wife, Dudley still harboured a fear that Harry would one day reject him as he had been rejected by Dudley for 17 years of his life, that he would bring up the past, that he would make Dudley pay for what he had done. Logically he new Harry was not that type of person, and every time they met up that fear seemed to reduce a fraction, but still...

"Hi Big D! How's the family?"

Dudley's smile became genuine at Harry's affectionate use of his old nickname.

"Everyone's fine. Do come in. Etta's just cooking dinner. "

The potters piled into the hallway, ginny carrying teddy, Harry carrying everything else.

Once the potters had taken their overnight bags up to the spare room, the two families all gathered in the sitting room whilst they waited for the dinner to cook. Dudley handed round glasses of gin and tonic whilst ginny produced a bag of multi-flavour crisps (that tasted of whoever was eating them's favourite flavour. ) and the adults began to chat whilst teddy played with baby violet ( Dudley's daughter) on the floor.

They talked about almost everything from travel to technology, work to what they had planned for the rapidly approaching Easter break.

Eventually the conversation turned to the children and, more specifically, teddy.

"So how does it work in the wizarding world?" Henrietta asked as she entered to the room after leaving to check on the chicken. "Teddy is about the age to start reception isn't he? Do you have a primary school system or do all wizarding kids get homeschooled?"

Harry took a sip of his GT before replying. "Well there isn't a specific system as the kids don't start to learn magic until they get to age 11 anyhow, but ginny, andromeda and I have agreed it might be healthier for him to go to a muggle school. After all, his father was always very keen to encourage the wizarding world to accept all human beings regardless of their blood."

Dudley nodded in agreement at this. "I only wish I had been more accepting of you when we were younger Harry."

"Honestly Dudley. How many times do I have to tell you! The past is in the past. I forgive you. At least our children won't grow up hating each other."

Dudley smiled, as did the cousin's wives and the four adults turned to look fondly at the children whilst ginny massaged her belly absentmindedly. Teddy was morphing his face to resemble different animals whilst violet squeaked in excitement.

"Pwiggy! Quicken! Moo moo!"

It was hard to tell who was having more fun: teddy or violet!

In that instant Teddy looked so much like Tonks that Ginny felt her eyes begin prickle. It had been four years since the war but everyday something seemed to trigger her or Harry. They had lost so many friends, family, colleagues... They had been through so much that sometimes the quiet, cosy times seemed surreal. Occasionally ginny was gripped by an uncontrollable panic: was she doing the right thing, bringing a child into the world? Although she knew in her mind that Voldemort was gone, she still couldn't get over her fear that something else, something darker might threaten her family. Ginny wasn't afraid of death, pain, hardships. No. She could cope with all of that. It was abandoning her family the way Harry had been abandoned and, to some extent Teddy too. If she and Harry were to die...

With a barely perceptible shake of her head, ginny reigned in her wandering mind and allowed the cosy warmth and friendly conversation of the Dursley's living room to wash over her once more. Only Harry noticed the slight shadow that had clouded her eyes for a few seconds. But he didn't say anything. He knew what had crossed her mind. They were all still haunted by the ghosts of the war. But for now they would concern themselves only in the lighthearted conversation that filled the front room with a warm buzz.

Later on as she cleared away the empty dishes, Henrietta marvelled at how normal the potters were. When Dudley had first sat her down and explained the nature of his family, she had expected them to be eccentric folk spurting clouds of coloured smoke from their ears and speaking in an incomprehensible babble whilst turning teapots into toads or some such thing. But no. If she hadn't witnessed them performing a few spells on odd occasions (and of course there was Harry's godson teddy -that child was quite something!) she would have thought them to be completely normal. She began to fill a bowl with hot water when she noticed that ginny had got up and followed her into the kitchen.

"Here, let me do the dishes." Ginny offered and before Henrietta could protest she had pointed her wand at the plates and every last gravy stain had disappeared. With another flick, the plates began flying around the kitchen back to their respective cupboards and Henrietta could only envy the ease at which what had promised to be a laborious task had been completed.

"Th-hanks!" She stuttered, amazed. No matter how many times she encountered magic, she still had trouble believing her eyes.

"No problem" ginny smiled at her warmly.

The two ladies walked back towards the dining room chatting. Suddenly there was a loud crash and the lights in the hallway flickered out as the bulb popped in a shower of glass.

"For Merlin's sake teddy!" Ginny cursed as she and henrietta jogged the last few paces towards the dining room door and burst in to see teddy screaming with laughter and clapping his hands whilst Harry extinguished the smoking table cloth and repaired the bulb that had shattered above the table.

"What the hell just happened?" Asked a pasty faced Dudley, clutching a giggling violet to his chest. "It wasn't those dark wizard people you told us about? What were they called - death diners?"

Harry looked a little preoccupied with the smoking table cloth so ginny answered.

"Death eaters? And no no. Nothing to worry about Dudley. It's just, well, when wizarding children are growing up they tend to exhibit signs of magic-usually out of their control- when they are scared, tired, excited and so on. I am afraid that was teddy just getting a bit overexcited. He seems to get on really well with violet you see.." Ginny grimaced apologetically as she took in the state of the table cloth.

However, to her surprise Dudley only mumbled "That would explain the python then" to which Harry let out a huge snort. The women looked on in confusion as the men promptly began to laugh violently.

When the laughter had ceased, ginny and henrietta decided that it was high time the children went to bed so Teddy and Violet were whisked off upstairs, leaving Harry and Dudley to chat whilst they shared a bottle of firewhisky. (Dudley was mad about it so Harry made sure to bring him a huge crate of the stuff whenever they saw eachother. )

"Y'know harry, the more I learn about wizards, the more my own childhood seems to make sense. All those strange things that happened must have been you!" Dudley chuckled as he shook his head.

"I remember being so mortified at the time that they happened but looking back, it was rather funny, wasn't it?" Harry agreed. "Do you remember that time at Halloween when you went as a zombie?"

"How could I forget! You must have been so upset that mum and dad didn't let you go out that you somehow jinxed that face paint! I had to go round school looking like a Brussels sprout for weeks!"

Harry and Dudley both grinned at the recollection of the memory.

"I'm glad we made up, Big D."

"Me too Harry, me too."

So what do you think?

Reviews would be much appreciated and if you have any ideas of what you want in the next one please let me know!

I have decided that this story will be more like a series of one shots spanning from just after the war to when Albus goes to Hogwarts.

Also I have exams coming up this month so I'm hitting the revision hard so I apologise in advance if I don't manage to update another chapter soon!!

Thanks for baring with me though guys! It is much appreciated :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters!  
Ok hi guys sorry it's been a while but I've had exams so...yeah- busy! This chapter is set just over two years later. James is 2, teddy is 7, violet is three, and rose and Albus are newborns. Hope you like this chapter! And as always, please, please review if you want more!**

-

The room was a haze of coloured smoke as the Dursley's stepped into the Potter's large but very full kitchen. It was James Sirius' second birthday and Harry and Ginny had decided to use it as an opportunity to gather the family together- The only problem being that the Weasley clan was so large that they hardly fitted into even the sizeable kitchen at Godric's Hollow!  
However this just made for a friendly, if a bit chaotic environment, as friends and family mingled amidst floating streamers and technicolor-changing balloons.  
Used now to magic after numerous trips to the Potter's home over the last few years, Henrietta and Dudley barely even flinched as a flight of enchanted model dragons zipped past their heads, spewing what looked like real flame. Violet had long since disappeared of with teddy, James and some children Dudley assumed were also related to the Potters (several of them sported the distinctive shock of ginger hair he had come to associate with the Weasleys!) so the couple made their way over to the drinks table to help themselves from an huge jug of butterbeer that sat amidst an assortment of mismatched glasses, mugs and beakers. Suddenly Dudley froze. Amidst the crowd of red heads he had spotted one that stood out. Henrietta noticed the colour had drained from her husband's face and frowned ever so slightly after following his gaze and finding nothing unusual to be the focus of it.  
"Duds? Is everything alright?" She questioned, sidestepping to avoid a small boy scampering between the adult's feet as if playing with an imaginary pet.  
"Er..." Dudley seemed absolutely terrified as he took in this strange man of nightmares. Then a thought struck him that sent shivers down his spine and caused a thin sheen of cold sweat to lace his hair line:  
Hang on- weren't there TWO of them?!  
It was at this moment that a familiar face appeared before him and Dudley looked down to see his cousin, hair as scruffy as usual, grinning crookedly up at him.  
"Hey Big D! Ginny said you'd arrived! How are you all doing?" Harry stopped as he took in his cousin's pasty complexion. Suddenly worried, Harry turned to where Dudley was still gazing in absolute horror but, unlike Henrietta, he immediately realized what had spooked his cousin.  
Harry burst out laughing. In fact he laughed so hard that the certain red head that had caught Dudley's attention turned around in curiosity and, never one to be left out of a joke, made his way over to Harry and the Dursley's.  
"Wassup Harry?" George Weasley asked, his left eyebrow twitching slightly as he tried to figure out what had caused his brother in law to double over in pure mirth. Gasping for breath, Harry straightened up and grinned. "C'mon Georgie! Surely you remember Dudley? And Dudley, I can assure you... You don't... Need to be... Afraid... Of him!" Harry snorted again and was once more wracked with laughter. Comprehension dawned on George's face as he recalled the fateful incident that was the great ton-tongue toffee prank of 1994. Oh the laughs he and Freddie had had over that! George suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and realized that his eyes had begun to water. Fred… Even now after all these years it was little things, small, insignificant memories, that caused him to feel the loss of his twin as keenly as if the battle of Hogwarts was only yesterday. His councilor at St Mungos had assured him things would improve but George was not so sure… Still, he thought, shaking his shoulders almost imperceptibly in an attempt to escape from the bottomless pit of self-pity he had begun to sink into, he had time to grieve later. Right now, it was his job, as resident joke-connoisseur, master-of-the-prank, and king of all things fun, to entertain the hoard of children that were his in-laws. After shaking hands and passing a few pleasantries with Dudley and his pretty young wife Henrietta (George had to hide his smirk at the fact that Dudley still sported the look of one that had come face to face with a boggart! "Job well done Freddie!" he thought!), the redhead set off in search of his many nieces, nephews and other distant relatives, itching to teach them a few choice tricks of the trade to drive his siblings up the wall!

Dudley sighed with relief as the particular red-head that had caused him many sleepless nights disappeared into the crowd that filled the kitchen. He smiled weakly at his wife, who was still looking up at him in concern, before indulging her (much to Harry's amusement) in the story behind his mistrust for one George Weasley. By the time he had finished, Dudley had begun to relax and even managed a weak chuckle at the shocked but entertained expression on Henrietta's face.

"well…." She began but was interrupted by a whirlwind of energy crashing into her legs. Barely managing to keep her balance, Henrietta smiled down at her daughter fondly and stooped to stroke her soft brown hair. Violet's face was a glowing picture of delight as she tugged on her mother's arm.

"Mummy! Mummy! Look what Jimmy can do!" she squealed, and Harry immediately stopped laughing as he crouched down next to his cousin's daughter. He knew what a trouble maker his son was, even at the tender age of two, and if he was up to no good…..

"What can Jimmy do, Violet?" he asked. The four year old turned towards "Uncle Harry" and grinned.

"He can fly!" she squealed excitedly, clapping her hands.

"He can what?" Harry was instantly on his feet and pushing his way across the room. What was his two year old son doing? And how?!

 **Cliffhanger! Please review to read more! :D Hope you enjoyed this chapter – it was a bit rushed as im soooooo busy with exams (** **L** **) at the minute so sorry! Hopefully the next one will be a bit better. And please don't jinx me over the Fred/George bit in the middle (Hides behind a chair) I tried to do them justice but Fred's death is SO SAD! Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, I will try and update ASAP :D:D:D**


	6. chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognise, I don't own. I'm only writing for enjoyment and not self gain!!**

Hi guys please don't kill me! I'm so sorry for leaving you all on in a cliffhanger like that but I've had a bad case of writer's block and it has been really hard to get this chapter complete.

Also, i think this story is coming to the end as it is focusing on harry and Dudley reuniting which has pretty much happened by the end of this chapter.

so maybe just one more to round it off :(

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me (i know I've been a nightmare at updating!) and thanks so much for all the reviews!

 **OooooooOOOOOOooooooo**

James was having a lot of fun. He was hovering three metres in the air with the entire garden laid out below him like a huge knitted cushion. Lots of his cousins were standing below him, laughing themselves silly as he waved down at them from his vantage point in the sky. Suddenly, a black haired man, glasses askew, came darting out of the large country farmhouse that was the Potter's home. James knew that man. He also knew the look on his face. It was a look his father donned far too often for his liking. In fact, his mother often said that Daddy would look 40 before his 30th birthday. James wasn't quite sure what that meant but he assumed by the flick on her nose his father usually followed that statement with, it was a fact he wasn't too pleased about.

"James Sirius Potter! What did we say about THAT tree?"

Awoken from his musings, James had the decency to look guilty as he stared down at his father. Although he seemed angry, James could see that his dad was really just very worried. After all, he had told his son MANY times that the tree in the garden with the Billywig hive in it was NOT to be climbed. Little did he know however, that this, translated in James speak, meant "Climb that tree as soon as you can". And now, here he was, floating about like a hot air balloon, as the crowd of confused yet concerned adults (let it be noted here that one certain red head male may have been seen splitting his sides with laughter as he remembered a very similar incident from his own childhood) grew below him.

 **oooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo**

Harry felt sweat begin to bead on his head as he watched his son floating 3 m in the air. Why did James Sirius have to take after his mother and her side of the family so much? It was all he could do not to glare as George doubled over in the corner of his Vision, breathless with laughter. The two were made for each other, James and George. Harry shook his head as he thought of how proud both his father and Fred would have been to see the mischief his first born child got up to. Tearing himself away from his musings, Harry turned his mind to the immediate task: How to get James down. It seemed that James had climbed the tree, the forbidden tree, and had as a result, been stung by the Billywigs nesting there. Whilst not life threatening, the side effects of hours of floating promised to be quite irritating and inconvenient, especially considering the numerous amount of guests that had all turned up to celebrate said floating child's birthday. To make matters worse, Harry knew that he had just run out of the antidote. With a sigh he turned towards the house again in search of the one person who might be able to help him: Hermione Granger. As he pushed through the crowd of onlookers, searching for a familiar bush of mousy Brown hair, he began to panic. What if James had an adverse reaction to the stings? Merlin please no. He quickened his pace as he entered the kitchen to match that of his rapidly rising heart beat, frantically scanning the throng of guests in search of his best friend. She had to be here somewhere! Just as his panic levels threatened to reach a dangerous high, he felt a warm hand Grace his shoulder. Already strung out, Harry had reached for his wand before he had fully registered the witch that owned said hand.

"Hermione?"

Harry lowered his wand as relief coursed through him.

"Yes you idiot, it's me." The brightest witch of her age and soon-to-be minister for magic have harry a very thorough and very disapproving glances over as she took in his pallid skin and sweaty brow. Harry winced.

"Ron said that he had seen you and that you were working yourself into a tizzy over James' latest escapade. Honestly Harry, you fought You-Know-Who at eleven, a basilisk at twelve and dementors at thirteen but you can't handle this?!"

She sighed, shaking her head. "You Know, the rate you're going, you're going to put everyone off having children!"

This time it was harry's turn to sigh as he accepted his friend had a point. But the fact that Hermione was right didn't make him panic any less whenever James managed to invent a new form of potentially dangerous play. His son was going to be the death of him, succeeding where even Voldemort had failed. Who knew that parenting could be so hard?

 **ooooooooOOOOOOOooooooooo**

Dudley could not believe his eyes. Violet hadn't been lying when she had claimed James could fly. He had just hadn't expected it to be like this. The toddler was cackling was bobbing around above everyone's heads and by the look on Harry's face Dudley suspected this wasn't usual Wizarding behaviour. However by the exasperated sigh that his cousin let out, Dudley also suspected that this wasn't exactly unusual behaviour for the young child, either.

"As much as I love James and his spirit, sometimes I do think it would be nice to have had a well behaved child. Like Violet. Y'Know?"

Dudley, lost in the ramblings of his mind, started at the voice that appeared beside him. Turning, he saw the owner of said voice, a certain fiery redhead that happened to be his sister in law, standing and gazing up at the wayward boy above. Ginny's expression was a mixture of love, worry and something else…. Was that…. Sadness? Almost as if recalling some long forgotten and painful memory, his sister in law's eyes had glazed over as she took in the scene. Dudley decided not to ask - indeed every time he encountered a mishap around the potters more memories of his own childhood flooded back, namely the Times harry had managed to leave his parents in a state of blind fury - and instead merely continued to watch the floating child. After a time, Ginny shifted beside him and he drew his attention away from his nephew to follow her gaze. His cousin had emerged from the farmhouse with a bushy brown witch that he remembered as Hermione Granger.

 **oooooooooOOOOOOOoooooo**

As Hermione and harry made their way across the slightly less crowded garden (many guests had dispersed in favour of another butterbeer or a pumpkin pasty) she couldn't help but be impressed at her friend's youngest son. The dramatics that occurred around said small boy were unprecedented save for those the weasley twins had pulled off back in the hogwarts days. She shook her head in admiration at her mother in law. Only now was she beginning to appreciate just how amazing that woman had been. She could only hope that Rose didn't follow in her cousin or uncles footsteps.

A loud cackle cut through her thoughts and she turned her mind to the task at hand as her nephew bobbed over her head. How was she going to get him down? Despite her extensive knowledge of most things magical, she had never before heard of an anti spell for billywig stings. And with the antidote taking six months to brew…..

Racking her brains to no avail, she turned to her best friend. It pained her to see him so concerned but she supposed that with the parenting (or lack of parenting) he had had as a child it was natural for him to be so concerned. Just as she opened her mouth to confess her lack of ideas, However, a blonde headed witch, maybe a head smaller than herself appeared as if by magic (let's point out here that this was highly probable!) Beside harry.

"Luna!"

Hermione couldn't help the grin that spread across her face at the sight of her friend, not having seen her for nearly two years.

"Oh hello Hermione, Harry," she nodded in her usual dreamy manner. "I hope I'm not late for the party?"

"Not at all Luna! But as you might have noticed-" Hermione pointed at James who was now throwing water balloons (where had he got those from?) At his cousin's below.

Luna's eyes grew wide as she took in the scene. She turned towards Hermione with a serious look in her eyes:

"I've been studying Bilywigs y'know. Their stings are supposed to be very beneficial."

Hermione smiled at her quirky friend, remembering a similar statement made at Bill and fleurs wedding several years previously. However it seemed as if harry barely registered what luna was saying, so fixated was he on his son. Noticing his troubled gaze Luna frowned.

"do you want to get him down?"

Hatry started and turned towards her.

"Of course! But how?"

In reply Luna simply waved her wand and slowly the floating boy began to sink like a punctured balloon, accompanied by groans from his fan club below.

Harry turned to his old friend, speechless, before remembering that Luna had been travelling and studying magical beasts for the last eighteen months so of course she would be the one to know an antispell. Then he remembered that he had once more a son within his reach, and said son was in need of a firm telling off.

With a heartfelt thanks, the boy who lived turned away to search out his son and let him know exactly how worried he had been.

From across the garden, Ginny watched her husband with a smile. Poor James! She only hoped, for the sake of Harry's sanity, that Albus would grow up with slightly more appreciation for rules. Then again, she mused, being a child of a potter and a weasley, it seemed as unlikely as Cornelius fudge ever becoming minister for magic again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: As always anything you recognise isn't mine and i am merely a humble fan writing for enjoyment and not self gain.**

So this will be the final chapter! Thankyou to all those who have reviewed/followed this story! I am sorry my updating has been to say the least awful- next time I write a fic I will amend that!

I hope this concludes the story of Harry and Dudley's reunion nicely. I may write some one shots in the future that link into this so keep an eye open! Until then, ENJOY!!!!!!

Violet Dursley was nervous. Today was her first day at redmoore primary and as she waited on the playground in her fresh pleated skirt and crisp white polo, she couldn't help but feel a little bit excited as well. She looked up at her father who held her hand protectivley and smiled. This was her first big step into the world of independance, and she felt both very small yet very grown up all at the same time. Her mother knelt down beside her as the first Bell of the day rung, and placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"I'm so proud of you Vi," she smiled.

Violet returned the smile with a huge bear hug for each of her parents.

"I love you." She said as she pulled away and reached for her new satchel and lunch box. This was it. It was time for her to join her classmates for the next seven years and truth be told, Violet couldnt wait.

As she entered the large and colourful classroom behind the rest of her peers, Violet couldnt help but shiver in delight. Paints adorned the wall in one corner whilst bean bags and books were scattered in another. Her teacher, a young man that couldnt have been much older than her aunt Ginny, smiled at the class as they pointed and chatted before falling quiet in the middle of the room.

"Good Morning!" he grinned, his face fresh and full of life as he addressed his new pupils. "Today we will just be learning each others names, what we like and so on. Come and sit on the carpet, that's it, in a circle, and I'll start"

He beckoned the children to the back of the classroom where a large rug decorated with the alphabet lay and promptly sat down. Violet was a surprised- werenr teachers supposed to be strict? Formal? After all, she had heard from her uncle ron all about the fearsome professor mcGonnagal at Hogwarts. However, her classmates had followed the young teacher's example so, with a slight shrug of her head, Violet decided to join them.

She sat down between a blonde girl with glasses and a skinny, mousy haired boy that seemed to be constantly moving. She offered a smile to both of them and was about to introduce herself when her teacher began to speak.

"Ok guys. It's really great that you are here at redmoore. I'm Mr Potter and I'll be your teacher for the next year."

At this, Violet couldnt help but put her hand up. A mr Potter? Her teacher! She couldnt wait to tell her dad!

"Yes?" Mr Potter smiled at her and gestures for her to speak.

"My Uncle is called Mr Potter too!" She grinned. "He's an auror!"

"That's very interesting ….. .."

"Violet"

"That s very interesting Violet." He smiled, "Perhaps you could tell us aĺl what an auror is?"

"A dark wizard catcher." At this Violet puffed her chest out with pride. She was very admiring of her aunt and uncle. They were war hero's after all! However, much to her confusion, Mr Potter seemed to think she was merely joking for he chuckled before replying,

" That sounds very exciting Violet," in the same voice that Uncle harry used when he could tell James Sirius was fibbing about something.

But being the bright child she was, Violet decided to let the matter pass. After all, her dad had said that people at school might not understand wizards. She just hadn't expected those people to include the teachers.

As she was thinking, Mr Potter had started moving around the circle, asking the pupils their names and for them to tell the class about themselves and their family. Violet snapped out of her thoughts in time to hear the girl beside her introduce herself. She spoke quietly and in a Scottish accent that immediately caught Violet's attention.

"Er… my name is Elsie McVey, I'm from scotland and… um… we have a pet called Marley?"

Here the girl glanced nervously at Mr Potter, as if searching for approval. He smiled back at her and she visibly relaxed.

"That s very nice Elsie. What thow of animal is Marley, can I ask? It sounds like a dog's name."

Elsie shook her head at this, making her blonde pigtails waggle about like two little snakes.

"No, He's an owl" she replied simply.

Mr Potter looked confused here as if he had never heard of someone owning an owl before.

Elsie didn't seem to notice though, and she enthusiastically elaborated on her statement.

" We names him after my mum's first cousin, Marlene McKinnon. She was killed in the war. Mum didn't really know her as she went to Lochallanor whilst Marlene went to Hogwarts but she thought it would be a good way to remember her by."

Violet could barely suppress an excited gasp as she realised that this girl, Elsie, was a witch. However, it seemed that Mr Potter was, if possible, even more confused by this revelation and frowned before asking,

"And what war would that be, Elsie?"

Now it was Elsie's turn to frown as she searched for an answer, eventually she replied triumphantly:

"The first one."

And it was all Violet could do not to snicker as Mr Potter merely nodded and rubbed his eyes before moving on.

 **oooooooOOOOOOoooooooo**

The day flew by and soon it was hometime. Violet couldnt wait to see her parents and tell them all about her day. But first she wanted to introduce her new best friend, Elsie, to them. After all, they had spent all day with each other, swapping stories on the magical world and debating whether Bertie Botts every flavour beans were better than Chocolate frogs. Searching amidst the throng of parents she immediately spotted her father and…….

"Dad! Uncle Harry!"

Violet grinned at the sight of her uncle and ran towards the two, Elsie in tow. Harry smiled as he turned to see his niece cannonballing towards him and his smile only grew as he recognised the pale girl hurtling along behind. If he was not mistaken, she was a McKinnon.

After the war, Harry had made it a priority to read up on all of the wizards and witches that his parents had known or that had died in the war and he remembered that the McKinnon clan, now McVey through marriage, had moved back down to England. He just hadn't realised that one of them would be at the same school as Violet!

However, his thoughts were soon scattered as said niece enveloped him in a huge hug. Harry returned the guesture before turning to smile at his cousin, thinking for the hundredth time how glad he was that his cousin had had the guts to write that letter all those years ago.


End file.
